


Vigilante Girls and Double Agents

by GollyGees (SolluxanderCaptr)



Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Illegal Activities, Info-Chan is a lesbian, Midori is also a lesbian, Midori is bothersome, Midori takes being a vigilante seriously, Multi, Murder, OCC - Freeform, Romance isn't the main point but Hey i think they look cute together, Slow Burn, Violence, a little bit, like always, some tags are for future chapters, sorta - Freeform, survivor's guilt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-10-12 23:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10502124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolluxanderCaptr/pseuds/GollyGees
Summary: Info-chan is contacted by someone wanting to join her club. Shit ensues.(Ratings and warnings will change for future chapters!)





	1. Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Somethings to take note of: I gave Info-Chan a name, there's a bit of canon divergence in reference to setting and things that characters do, as well as some details I took creative liberty on.

Chapter 1: Contact 

Eri watched her screens thoughtfully. On one, Aishi’s various rivals were listed alphabetically by last name and categorized by age. Some of the names were crossed out. On another screen there were various actions, some also crossed out and some with boxes and checks next to it. A third held student information, a fourth staff information and so and so forth.

To anyone else, this would make no sense. To someone with sharper eyes, however, they would see something more sinister. And to Eri, it was just a pattern of checking things off of lists.

She’d been working at this for a few weeks now, these lists. They enabled her to do her current job right. Which was assisting a fellow student in getting rid of her rivals of love. Sure, it sounded stupid at first, but Aishi had made a rather… compelling plea. It was fun to formulate all these plans and see what sort of stunts Aishi tried to pull and how she executed them. Aishi wasn't a complete mastermind after all; she needed help, someone to harness her rage and refine it. Someone to be her partner in crime.

Of course, Eri thought at some point the shit would hit the fan and Aishi would get caught. But that was why Eri kept herself anonymous. The legendary Info-Chan, who texted from an encrypted, untraceable phone and whose base was hidden in a stretch of wall near a locked closet that only she had access too. As she passed in and out through the secret entrance, she felt a sort of power. Every time Eri did something illegal she felt this sort of…. Rush. She was drunk on the sense of authority she had on people she didn't even know. God, it was amazing.

Eri leaned back in her chair, content with herself. What a name she had made for herself. She stretched, relieving the stress from her body. But as soon as she held out her arms, she hit her cup of coffee.

“Shit shit shit shit,” she muttered to herself. She grabbed a bunch of tissues to try and cease the growing puddle of caramel macchiato on the floor.

She decided even super stars like her had moments like these.

\----

_Scroll scroll scroll scroll-_

“THERE!”

Eri was on the edge of her seat, furiously working through one of her screens. She stopped on a student profile- one Gurin Midori. Quickly she opened the file, going through the information she had. And lo and behold- there was Gurin’s phone number.

The red-head picked her phone up and scrolled through the messages until she got to the one she wanted. Her eyes flickered between the monitor and the phone. _The same number_ , she thought.

Inwardly groaning, Eri set her phone down. Gurin had contacted her. Eri rolled her eyes and opened the message to read it over.

_From: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_I understand this is the number of Info-Chan? I heard you help people. I need your help._

She started to cautiously text back.

_To: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_I don't do the kind of thing you're thinking, Gurin-san, if I'm right about you._

It wasn't long until Eri received another message.

_From: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_WHAT HOW DKD YOU KNOW IT WAS ME_

_From: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_I mean uh_

_From: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_What do you think I'm requesting of you?_

Eri rolled her eyes and succumbed to her fate of texting this dumb girl.

_To: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_I'm thinking you want me to help you play hero and make someone’s day. I'm thinking you want me to somehow provide you with a miracle to bring happiness back to the school. You're not the first to have requested that from me now. So, Gurin-san, unless you want panty shots or someone beat up, feel free to leave me alone._

_From: XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_I want to join your club and catch a killer._

Eri’s stomach dropped.

\----

Earlier that week Ashi had snapped and killed a girl. The leader of the Home Ec club. It was a risky thing to do, she told Aishi so. But she did it anyways. Eri shrugged and brushed it off, but internally she was panicking.

Aishi had done something that had caught the law's attention. Though Eri had taken the utmost precaution to keep her identity and location unknown, it bothered her. She didn't want to go to jail or juvie or wherever they would send her. She didn't want to be an accessory to a murder. Aishi came to _her_ for help and it sort of ruined everything Eri worked for if Aishi just went out and stabbed a girl in the yard.

 _Fucking Aishi_ , she thought. _If you just wanted  to kill someone why did you bring me into this?_

Although Aishi did take her precautions too. A mask and hair cap and wig and a different outfit. All burned in the incinerator, Aishi told her. Eri guessed she could trust her little killer a bit more.

But now there was a vigilante asking for help and Eri didn't know what to do with herself. She tossed and turned in her bed that night, contemplating on how she was to avoid Gurin the next few days.


	2. Negotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will hopefully be posted in pairs until the story is done. In the meantime, stay tuned.

Chapter 2: Negotiations

It started in late April. Midori remembered the day as clear as yesterday- she was just on the roof leaning on the railing and pondering life when she heard screeching. A girl. Like everyone else, Midori rushed to one side of the roof and watched as some masked killer attacked Odayaka Amai. 

Midori didn't know who Odayaka really was, just that she was the president of the Home Ec club. But that coming week everyone mourned her like family.

Regrettably, Midori wasn't the first to call 911. It was someone by the name of Yamada, a senior. She, like everyone else, was unable to look away from the horrible scene playing out infront of her. Midori was frozen.

In days after, much of the school’s population was missing.  Those from the Home Ec club were all missing and so were a lot people from Amai’s class, including Yamada the senior. Midori kept going to school. People cried and became depressed and overall felt bad. An abundance of people attended Odayaka's funeral and no one could see the gravestone due to all the flowers and candles left there. Midori kept going to school. Speakers came in and held assemblies about loss. Those of Odayaka's friends who were still in school were given shoulders to cry on and her family was given a surplus in donations. Midori kept going to school.

She couldn't figure out was wrong with her- why couldn't she feel sad? But as one of the speakers had said, loss affects people in different ways. Some people didn't feel it right away and would be hit a different times, so Midori included herself in that group. 

Then it came to her one day. On her listless days in school after the murder, Midori wandered into the Home Ec club room. She stood there and took in the feel of it. That's when she noticed it. Odayaka's phone. Something pulled Midori to it.

Cautiously, Midori used a napkin to pick it up. It was just left here. No one knew like Midori how a phone could make a person, adopting their personality through apps and pictures and cases. 

She turned it in her hands. This was probably why she was rushing through the courtyard after school back to this hall that day (as she had heard from others).  Its case was light blue, Odayaka's favorite color. Touching the screen through a plastic glove from one of the drawers, she unlocked it (for Odayaka conveniently had no passcode). Pictures of the various dishes she cooked with her clubmates, selfies at festivals, a good amount of random pictures. This girl had a  _ life _ . 

Odayaka Amai was a girl with friends and family and responsibilities. She was a girl who loved her school and work and was so passionate about her club activities. She liked cats and her favorite color was blue. She lived and breathed and walked through these halls and-

Midori tossed the phone back on the counter. It was becoming too real for her. She hurried herself out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Midori sprinted out into the back of the school. She curled up in a ball and felt tears start to sting her eyes. 

A million thoughts rushed through her head.  _ Why didn't I call the police? Why didn't I act sooner? Why did I go through her phone? _ Midori’s breath.was coming fast, too fast for her to handle. Her chest pumped in and out at a dizzying pace and still it wasn't enough. She grabbed at grass and rocks to ground herself, but to no avail. All she could do was sit there and cry.

_ Deep breaths, Midori, deep, breaths _ … 

When she finally calmed down, she started formulating a plan in her head. 

\----

Midori travelled upstairs to the third floor boys’ bathroom. After looking around to see if anyone was outside and/or watching, she slipped in. 

There was no one in there but her. Midori quickly made it into the second stall and peered at the walls. It should’ve been somewhere here- Yes! There it was in all its glory. Sprawled in messy blue marker was the infamous Info-Chan’s number.  As quick as a rabbit she saved the number to her phone and bolted into the hallway and towards the second floor. She needed a drink.

She settled down at one of the corner tables, whipped out her phone, and started texting. The green haired girl hoped to whatever gods or deities residing in Heaven smiled down upon her. A minute back she got a reply and soon she was engaged in conversation. Pretty soon, though, the end of lunch bell rang and she skipped off to class again. Periodically, she sneaked out her phone to check it, but no new messages appeared in her notifications. 

Midori sighed. 


	3. Avoidance

Chapter 3: Avoidance 

It was bright and early for school that next Monday. Again, Eri’s mother offered to let her and Yui stay home from school. ‘It’s too early in the recovery process,’ she had said. ‘You and your sister need to spend time away from school to properly move on. And it's still not too safe.’ But neither she nor Yui felt anything for Amai. At least, Eri didn’t. 

Yui was the only one of the club so far to show up after the murder. To not look suspicious, she took the day before off. This was spent at various arcades, the convenience store, the park, and eventually ended at the riverside- at least, that’s what Eri got from all of her twin’s texts. But after that Yui seemed to come to school and just… Sit around in the old Home Ec club room. Eri suspected survivor’s guilt maybe, or sadness due to loss, but it wasn’t super obvious. It took a skilled people-reader like herself to figure that out. And also they were twins. But that was besides the point.

Few people showed up to school, as per usual nowadays. It seemed to be the usual people coming in; delinquents, a few seniors, and some nobodies. Eri spotted Ronshaku Musume already rounding a corner to go smoke. Eri scoffed.

_ She owes me for those. _

There was a police officer stationed at the front of the school and two who wandered the inside. It was also to be noted that there were technicians in the school now, installing a few cameras for security. Luckily there were none near her closet door, but Eri planned on giving Aishi a stern talking to that day to prevent that from ever happening.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Yui whispered.

Eri started to shrug, but then had an idea. “Would you object going to the roof with me?” she answered. When Yui shook her head, Eri started towards the stairs. Once up on the roof, Eri left her sister’s side and briskly walked herself to where the Basu sisters used to hang out.  _ Sorry girls _ , Eri thought,  _ there’s a new sibling pair in town _ .

Yui followed her into the corner. As soon as they were safely hidden, Gurin started walking out onto the wide expanse of the roof. She leaned on the low fence protecting students from the edge of the roof, hair flowing in the wind. She looked depressed.

“Why are we staring at her?”

Eri jumped. “Shut- shush!”

Yui smirked. “Are you crushing on her?”

The shorter haired girl shook her head furiously. “That's not what this is! She just- it's complicated, okay?” 

“Does this have to do with your work?”

Eri bit her lip and her eyebrows furrowed. “Sort of, yeah…” Yui didn't know a ton about her work, just the fact that it was illegal. Eri was glad to have the type of sister who didn't question her. Besides, it gave them spending money.

Her sister shrugged. ”Then I'll leave you to it then. But,” Yui said, leaning in close, “I wouldn't judge you if you  _ were  _ crushing on her.”

Eri rolled her eyes, but smiled. However the light-hearted moment was ruined when when Eri's phone went off. She panicked and hurried to turn it off. When she opened it up, she had a new text from Gurin, whose contact she saved to her phone just in case.

_ From: Gurin _

_ Info-Chan I demand you help me catch Odayaka's killer. _

_ To: Gurin _

_ I don't think so. _

_ From: Gurin _

_ I WILL find out who you are and then I'll make you help me. _

“Whatcha doin’ there sis? We've only got a few more minutes til class starts,” Yui whispered.

“Hold on,” Eri replied, thoroughly distracted.

_ To: Gurin _

_ Well, good luck with that then. _

And with that, Eri took her sister's hand and rushed them back down the stairs to their nearly empty classroom.

\----

_ To: Aishi _

_ Meet me at the closet on the second floor after school. Knock on the door twice. We need to have a little chat. _

_ From: Aishi _

_ Fine. Give me a few minutes though. _

_ To: Aishi _

_ ASAP Aishi. This is serious. _

_ To: Aishi _

_ A S A P _

\----

Ayano arrived at the closet, knocked twice, and pressed her ear against the door. She raised an eyebrow.

“Info-Chan?” she whispered.

“Hello,” she answered. “We have something to discuss. Take a seat, Aishi.”

Confused, Ayano sat down on the floor. She heard shuffling from the other side of the door.

“Now, Aishi,” she started, “I know you're angry at these girls and that the simplest and most effective way to get rid of them might be to kill them. However.” At this she slapped her hand against the door. “You absolutely cannot attract  _ law enforcement _ to the school. It'll cost me my job and your… love life.”

Ayano scoffed. “What do you know? You've never been in love. And she was  _ in the way _ . There was no way we could've dealt with her nicely.”

“Don't assume that you know everything Aishi,” Info-Chan growled. “And she could have been dealt with easier if you had run your plan by me. You didn't have to kill her in front of half the school.” Info-Chan stood. “If you want to kill all these girls, so be it, but I'm not going to associate myself with you or help you anymore.”

Ayano heard Info-Chan get up and start to walk away. She gritted her teeth and hung her head.

“Wait,” she called through the door.

“Yes?”

“I- I… I need your help. I can't do this without you.” Ayano pressed her palms against the door. “Please.”

“Fine. But the second you attempt to pull a stunt like that I'm cutting this,” she paused, “off.”

Ayano nodded. She felt dirty for begging and being so desperate. She didn't want Info-Chan's help, but…

She listened as the redhead walked away. If only she could do this on her own. If only there were no other girls in this school- in the world, so she could have Yamada-senpai all to herself. She sighed in frustration and walked the other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yui isn't actually homophobic she just likes teasing her sister. And take note of the location of Eri's closet.


	4. Tracking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midori interacts with a lot of tired people in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Tracking 

Midori felt in her gut (and heart) that Odayaka's killer would strike again. She just _knew_ it. And it was irritating that Info-Chan didn't want to help her. Well, okay, maybe she was being unreasonable, but it was like she had no heart! Midori had all the heart. All of it.

So, Midori set out to find Info-Chan.

\----

Midori doodled mindlessly on her worksheet as she thought out her plan to track down Info-Chan. She decided that she'd compare the handwriting on the bathroom wall with student test papers, but that would include a lot of work. Plus, there were too many students in the school to go through all of those test papers.

She sighed and tried to concentrate on her math work.

At lunch it occurred to her that she could narrow it down by finding out what year Info-Chan was in. She wasn’t friends with many people, though. As she thoughtfully munched on her chestnut-flavored _anpan_ * she decided maybe she could just talk to some of the other seniors. But she didn’t think the they would appreciate being randomly approached. _Still_ , Midori thought, _maybe I could get away with it. Somehow._

Midori finished her _anpan_ quickly and decided to take a little stroll around the school to help with her digestion (it was a sensible thing to do) and wound up in the courtyard. And lo and behold the only senior she really knew was sitting on the fountain ledge. Before she knew it, Midori was walking toward him.

“Ah, Yamada-san!” she called out. “Can- I’m Gurin Midori, I sit behind you in class. Can I ask you something?”

He turned. There were bags under his eyes, but they weren’t super visible. She guessed he’d probably been getting a better night's’ sleep recently. She felt a little bit guilty about bothering him, but it was for the greater good, in the end.

Yamada got up and walked toward her. “Yes? What is it?” he asked, and then hesitated. “This- This isn’t about Amai is it?”

“No, no, not at all. I was just wondering…” Midori trailed off. “Um, how long do you think Info-Chan has been around?”

He scoffed. “That perv? God they’ve been around since like… At least last year. That’s when that Ronshaku girl started smoking I think. But I don’t really know, so take what I say with a grain of salt.”

“Hmmm… I see,” Midori replied and nodded. “So do you think she might be a second year?”

“Probably.”

“Well, thank you for this information Yamada-san!” she said gratefully. “This has been a big help!”

Yamada gave her a weird look. “Are you going to expose them or something? Because…” he leaned in, “I really wouldn’t mind that. This school needs a bit of cleaning up.” He gave her a tired smile. Midori giggled. 

“Well, it’s been nice talking to you Yamada-san. Bye-bye!”

And with that, she skipped off. 

\----

Taro sighed and put his hands in his pockets. It was nice to have a fun conversation to lighten up the mood. Days these days seemed bleak. Osana had a new boyfriend, which meant she didn't hang out with him and Hanako as much. And even now she turned to Soma for comfort. As if she couldn't talk to him after all those years. 

It left him lonely. But Gurin-san made a bit of a difference. He smiled and looked up at the sky. It seemed a little bit brighter. Maybe he'd talk with Gurin-san more often.

The bushes rustled, but there was no wind.  _Weird_ , he thought.

\----

She snuck back up to the boys’ bathroom and took a picture of the number scribbled on the stall wall. She zipped out as fast as she could and went to the light music club.

She opened the door and called out “Hellooo?”

“Yes! Yes, hello?” someone called back.

A girl with black hair with pink tips tied in a messy side-pony tail. She looked tired and like she'd just been crying. It didn't sound like anyone else was in there with her.

“Ah- h- hey, um…” Midori shifted nervously. “Could- Do you have a radio I can borrow?”

The girl’s face fell slightly, but only for a second. “Oh, uh- yeah! Yeah totally! Uhh, hold on, it'll be a sec.” She disappeared into the room and a minute later came back with a small, dark blue radio. “Here ya go,” she said, placing it in Midori's hands. “Treat 'er well.”

“Thanks,” Midori responded quietly. She was about to walk away but hesitated. “Hey, uh, my name is Gurin Midori.”

“Shan Miyuji,” she grinned and held out her hand.

They shook hands and smiled at each other. Shan’s hands were cold and sort of clammy, but Midori didn't mind. In these trying times there were few friends left.

She thanked her again and headed to the faculty room. With classes going on in less than five minutes, she didn’t have much time.

\----

On her way to the first floor, Midori set it to her favorite station. A soft piano came on. She quickly set it to the loudest volume setting and dashed away. As she passed the crowd of teachers leaving the faculty room, the gym teacher going _into_ the room heard the noise. She sprinted over to the end of the hall just as everyone else rounded the corner. _Out of sight_.

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she forced her way into the faculty room. She searched the desks for familiar second-year names. Hearing footsteps coming down the hallway, she grabbed two stacks of papers. As fast as she did last time, she bolted through the door, using her foot to drag it closed behind her.

With one minute left on the clock she rushed back up the stairs, stolen papers in one hand and cellphone in the other.

\----

The day could not go any _slower_. Midori couldn’t wait until she got home to analyze the handwriting. Her leg shook with anticipation and she couldn’t concentrate on her English test. She wasn’t doing that great in that subject anyways.

When the bell finally rang, she was among the first one out. She was already halfway home when she remembered she was on cleaning duty, but she decided she’d buy something for Ruto-san later and take a double shift to compensate. All she wanted to do was get in her desk in her room and go through these papers.

As soon as she unlocked her front door and locked it  again behind her, she pounded up the steps. _Homework can wait_ , Midori thought. She was grinning ear to ear and felt her body buzz from head to toe.

“Alright alright alright alright**,” she muttered to herself. God she was going to get to the bottom of this and have so much leverage over Info-Chan.

Cooling herself down, she carefully sifted through the papers, looking back and forth between the picture on her phone, occasionally tapping it to keep it on. It wasn't until the fourth student of the second class that she found it: perfectly matching (and somehow very angular) hiragana and a fancy number 7. Midori looked at the student’s name and nearly screeched in happiness.

_Rio Yui._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you think Midori and Taro look nice together?
> 
> *Anpan is a sweet Japanese bread with filling, usually with red bean paste but as shown it can also be filled with other flavors  
> **-Midori voice- What's cooler than being cool? ICE COLD
> 
> In other news I liked writing these chapters but that took a lot out of me. Soooo I'm takin a short break. See ya on the flipside


	5. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That break lasted a whole hour.

Chapter 5: Confrontation 

Midori let the high of successful sleuthing wash over her. It felt good to be able to do things like that and actually solve something. Then she realized how much cleaning up she had to do. She jolted up. _Did the gym teacher take the radio? How am I going to put back the papers? I don’t even know what Rio Yui looks like!_  She groaned. So much for heroics.

Depressedly climbing down the stairs, she started to formulate another plan. _Shan-san probably thought I’d return her radio by now_ … There was also the fact that Midori had _stolen_ papers from a faculty classroom. Surely if anyone figured out it was her she’d be expelled. _What was I thinking?_  But then again, she couldn’t’ve gone around to every single second-year and had them write numbers and characters out for her. That would’ve been weird. But would it have gotten her expelled? Probably not. _But then again, I don’t want my reputation to go down…_

She got herself a cup of water and sipped it, trying to clear her head of anxiety and to formulate another plan, but all it did was make her head hurt.

Midori climbed the stairs again and decided she’d start on her homework.

\----

It was after school and Eri decided to do some sleuthing of her own.

She casually flipped through the newly-installed security cameras’ footage from earlier that day. She had heard there were stolen test papers and she had a sneaking suspicion that a certain greenheaded girl was responsible for them.

Eri was grateful they were simple enough to hack into. As she switched cameras, she saw a flash of green on the first floor camera near the faculty room. Raising her eyebrow, she stopped clicking through the footage.

She watched intently as Gurin sped-walk to one side of the hallway behind a couple teachers. The gym teacher walked in from that side and went to open the faculty room door when she paused. As if she was listening to something. Eri turned up the volume and heard what the camera picked up: piano music. She watched as the gym teacher travelled to the other side of the hall and Gurin entered the camera’s view again.

Hurriedly, she entered the faculty room. It was a minute or so before the gym teacher started walking in again and, as if on cue, Gurin exited the classroom, dragging the door closed with her foot. She was carrying a stack of papers closely against her chest and her phone in the other.

Eri raised both her eyebrows, impressed. Not a lot of people had the guts to steal test papers like that. But why would she need them? And then it dawned on her.

_Fuck._

She didn’t completely know how but those test papers were related to Gurin’s search on her. Eri nearly died on the spot. Some clueless vigilante airhead was _really_ tracking her down.

“Well, I guess it’s too late to fix things,” she muttered. What was she to do? And then she had the stupidest thought she’d had in a long time.

 _I guess I could just help her_.

Eri erased the footage of Gurin going in and out of the classroom and replaced it with footage of an empty hallway. She edited the timestamps on the footage as carefully as she could and then sent it to the camera. If she did a good enough job, no one would know the difference.

“I’ll let her find me,” Eri whispered to herself. “And then I'll sabotage her little plans one step at a time.” She stood up and stretched. 

Exiting the closet entrance, she grinned. “Game on, Gurin.”

Eri closed the windows on her multi-screen computer and shut it down. It was time to go home.

\----

Yui was bored. Very bored. So. Fucking. _Bored_.

Math was made by the devil himself, Yui was sure of it. What on Earth was the point of all these goddamn equations? She wouldn’t be using this anytime soon. _Ever_ . As if _calculus_ would help her win that dumb drum game* at the arcade. Or get  a job. At least, not the job she wanted. Yui didn’t know what she wanted to do yet, but she certainly didn’t want to be a freaking math teacher.

All she wanted from life was a good adventure book. And for people to stop yelling at her for shoplifting good adventure books. It wasn’t her fault the library was so goddamn far.

Baru Rai** and Temu Biku** were back in school. Rai sat right in front of Yui, and, if she were honest, she sort of missed seeing the cheerful girl’s bouncy pigtails everyday. But today they weren’t tied up. Her pigtails hung low and the ribbons were loose, as if she didn’t have the strength to tie them in the neat bows she was used to. Not that Yui cared; it was just super noticable. Biku’s hair wasn’t even tied up, but it was whatever. Yui liked to think she had a leg up on everyone because she didn’t let herself get depressed. Well, not too much.

Amai was… a significant loss. It wasn’t like she cared too much, but it seemed pretty illogical to just kill such a nice person out of nowhere. Or maybe not out of nowhere. People had reasons for doing bad things. Like wanting good adventure books. But that was besides the point.

Odayaka Amai was a good person. Personally, Yui didn’t really feel right about it and would rather the killer have done it in private or something so the blood didn’t just get _abso-fucking-lutely everywhere_ . They actually closed down the school for cleanup for _two days_. And it got on her. Not a ton, if anything Kokona-chan got the worst of it. Yui heard she was in therapy because of trauma.

“Rio!”

Her head snapped up.

“I’ve been calling your name for the past two minutes,” Nana-sensei said exasperatedly. “Listen, I know you’re all upset of Odayaka’s death, but please if you’re not feeling well, stay home. When you come here, you come here to learn and be diligent students. Understand?”

Everyone murmured a ‘yes sensei’ and Yui rolled her eyes.

\----

“Excuse me, are you Rio Yui?”

Yui turned around. A green-haired girl had placed her hand on her shoulder and was looking at her very… Concernedly. Was concernedly a word? It was now as far as Yui cared.

“Who’s asking?” Yui said, narrowing her eyes.

The green-haired girl looked frustrated and tightened her grip. “ _I_ am.” She let out a breath and took her hand away. “I need to ask you something.”

“‘Bout what?”

“Someone named ‘Info-Chan’.”

Yui felt herself pale and ran. And then she blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yes, she's referring to Taiko: Drum Master  
> **Baru Rai, or Rai Baru, is Rival translated into hiragana. Yes it is Rival-chan. Temu Biku, or Biku Temu, is Victim translated into hiragana. Yes, it is Victim-chan.


	6. Meeting, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midori does... questionable things. Poor Yui.

Chapter 6: Meeting, Part One

“Okay, game time,” Midori whispered to herself. Plan Reverse was in action. 

She jogged in place, warming up. Midori wasn’t the best at P.E., but she was sure she could scale this wall. Sort of. Maybe? Maybe not. She was bad at P.E.

She shook her head.  _ No Midori!  _ she told herself, slapping her cheeks.  _ No negativity! _

Midori took a couple steps back, bouncing on her heels. Then, she ran at the wall. She jumped and successfully took ahold of the ledge and hauled herself over. It strained her a bit, and for a second she thought she pulled a muscle, but she was fine.

In the dark of pre-dawn, she pulled back her sleeve to reveal an electric watch. 5:44 A.M. She grinned wickedly, but not too wickedly. She wasn’t wicked. 

Midori heard a car pulling up and dove into the nearby bushes, squeezing her eyes shut. It helped that her hair was green. She heard the gate creak open and then close. Footsteps, footsteps, distant footsteps… Gone.

She tried to rise up to follow, but a branch caught on a loose thread in her jeans. It caused her to trip forward a bit and plant her shoe in mud.  _ Ugh _ . Slipping off one shoe, she hobbled off after the person who had entered the building.

Seeing no one in the locker room, she slipped her other shoe off in favor of her (clean) indoor shoes. Putting them in her locker, she looked at her surroundings more carefully. 

The school was darker than she expected, but she assumed the power would be on in a minute or two. As soon as she was done changing shoes, Midori fixed the straps of her large knapsack on her shoulders and went around to the faculty room.

It was locked. Just as she expected, though. Midori pulled the bobby pin from her hair and wiggled it around in the lock. She watched a couple tutorials last night and tested it on her front door just to make sure it worked. Midori was lucky she didn’t have to call her dad for help. Like magic, the door’s lock clicked open. 

The senior retraced her steps from yesterday and came to the two desks she took the papers from. Carefully, she placed her knapsack on a desk and removed the papers. She hoped to god she was right and separated the pile into two separate stacks and then bent down to place them underneath the desks.

_ Now, for the radio. _

She turned around and found it sitting on the back table.  _ So she  _ had _ taken it _ . Midori swiped it off the table, locked the inside of the door, and pulled it closed as she left.

Midori travelled up to the Light Music Club room. It, too, was locked, so she worked her bobby pin again, sliding the door open with ease. 

As soon as she stepped into the room, her mood fell. Most of the instruments had been tucked away or packed into boxes. Everything except a black electric guitar was put away, but even that looked dusty. Midori wondered if the other band members were moving schools.  _ Maybe even towns _ . Midori frowned.

She was about to place the radio on the grouped desks when she heard footsteps again. She stuffed herself into a closet and closed the door on herself. Midori (figuratively) quaked in her boots as the person entered the room. They walked in, paused, and then walked out.  After what seemed an eternity of waiting, Midori figured it was safe to come out again. 

Peeking out first, she exited the closet. She tiptoed across the room and kneeled down and took her knapsack off once again and took out a pre-written note to Shan-san. Midori placed it on a desk and used the radio to weigh it down. 

Midori, once again, locked the inside of the door and closed it behind her. She stopped to take a breather near the girls bathroom and pulled back her sleeve. 6:12 A.M. 

Slipping into the girl's’ bathroom to change out of her snooping clothes (a t-shirt, a hoodie, and her jeans) and into her uniform she’s kept in her knapsack along with her school bag. She came prepared as heck.

“Now,” she murmured to herself, “time to track down Rio Yui”

\----

Yui woke up in a locked room. It… looked like she was still in school? The walls and flooring looked familiar, but the rug and chest weren’t.  _ Is this a closet _ ? She groaned, head swimming. She buried her head in her knees to avoid the bright light.

The door creaked open and her head shot up.

“I see you’re awake,  _ Info-Chan _ ,” she sneered. “Now, help me or-”

“I’m not Info-Chan you bitch!” Yui yelled. “Let me go!”

“Then why did you run?!” she yelled.

Yui panicked. “Be- because… I-” She nervously looked around. “Fuck, who even are you? How do you know who I am?”

“Long story, not enough time for exposition,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s just say I stalked your class a bit, ‘kay?”

“Wh- What the actual fuck?!” Yui stood up. “Let me out! Fuck this shit, I don’t even know why you want me here!”

The girl pinned Yui against the wall. “It is  _ your _ handwriting on that bathroom wall in the boy’s room where this whole ‘Info-Chan’ business started. Now you get to telling me who you are in relation to her or I swear-”

_ RINGGGG. RINGGGG.  _

“Pick it up,” the girl commanded.

Yui gritted her teeth and shakily retrieved her phone from her breast pocket. She flipped it open. “H- hello?”

“It’s Eri. Don’t say a word. Just put me on speaker.”

The redhead gulped and pressed the speaker button. 

“Hello Gurin. I see you’ve kidnapped a friend of mine.”

Gurin’s eyes widened. “Info-Chan! You-” She clenched her fists. “You help me now or I  _ will _ harm your friend.”

“Relax relax,” Eri replied in an uninterested tone. “I come in peace. Now, you let Yui go and I’ll erase the video footage of you breaking and entering the faculty room. After that, you can come up to the third floor closet and knock on the door three times,  _ tomorrow. _ Deal?”

Gurin nodded. “Deal.”

“Well,” she replied, her grin showing in her voice, “until then.”

A beeping noise was heard and then silence.

“She hung up,” Gurin disappointedly commented. She sighed and opened the door of the closet. “You can leave. But I expect I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Yui bolted out of the closet, herself going up to the third floor.  _ Fucking weird-ass cunt _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now is the real break i guess?? School is comin' round.


	7. Meeting, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> standardized testing kills me. here u go

Chapter 7: Meeting, Part Two

Eri was already at the closet door to let her sister in. She's out of breath and visibly shaken up, a state no one but her would be allowed to see her in. Yui collapses in her arms and holds her sister close for dear life.

“Holy. Fucking. Oh my god. What the fuck,” she pants out as Yui does her best to lug her into the secret room.

It wasn't too furnished; the swivel chair was really the only piece of furniture in there. Before then anytime Yui spent time with her in there she just sat on the floor. Eri thought of getting a beanbag chair and now she really wished she had gone through with it.

She helped her into the chair, making sure not to bump her into anything.

“God,” Yui muttered. “That Gurin girl is fucking… ugh.  I'm pretty sure I have to go join Kokona-chan in therapy now.”

Eri’s expression darkened. “What the hell did she  _ do _ to you?”

“I don’ fuckin’ know,” Yui spat. “Pretty sure she hit me in the head with something. Hard enough to knock me out.”

“Shit. What if you have a concussion?”

Yui shrugged. “We could always sue her.”

“No,” Eri shook her head. “She knows what I do now, she'd expose me in a minute. I'm technically an accessory to murder Yui.”

Her eyes widened. “ _ What _ ?! What the hell do you mean- was it the Odayaka murder?! “ Her voice lowered to a harsh whisper. “Eri I'm not going to stop you, you know that, but I don't want you to go to  _ jail _ .”

“I didn't kill Odayaka, don't worry,” Eri soothed her. “But I know who did and I've been helping her mess with people.”

“Why?”

“It's… complicated. A big mess. But I can tell you who it is.”

Yui leaned in, as if to capture a whisper in a crowded room, though no one else was around them.

“It's Aishi Ayano.”

Her sister gasped. “Yan-chan? Seriously? Why?”

“I thought it'd be fun. So far it was just… manipulating people and stuff. We paired up Najimi and Soma. It was funny seeing Aishi jump through all those hoops to get Najimi away from Yamada. But I didn't expect her to  _ kill _ anyone.”

“So you've gotta avoid the feds now?” Yui asked.

Eri nodded. “And I don't think I'll be able to control Aishi for much longer.”

\----

“So you're saying you've never had a crush on anyone?”

“Nope. Never. And I really don't think I will,” Yui adjusted herself on Kokona's desk. “I'm pretty sure I'm aromantic  _ and _ asexual.”

The redhead smiled at her friend. It was nice to have someone she knew around again. When she saw Kokona arrive at her shoe locker that morning, she gave her a big bear-hug and lifted her off the ground to show her how happy she was that Kokona was back. Yui aimed to make the most of her return.

Kokona shrugged. “I guess it's a little disappointing I won't get to be one of your bridesmaids, but to each her own I guess.” She laid her head down. “It feels… weird to be back. Is there anything I need to catch up on?”

Yui shook her head, placing a hand on her tired friend's shoulder. “Lessons sorta slowed down when everyone left. But I guess now since people are trickling back in they'll be picking up soon.”

“Mm, I should've stayed absent,” Kokona sighed. “I still can’t believe you kept going to school all this time.”

“Er, uh, I think…” Yui paused. “I think Amai-senpai would’ve wanted me to keep going, ya know? I mean it’s not like I’m  _ not _ grieving her. I’m just trying to honor what she would’ve wanted.”

Her friend reached out and patted her leg. “You’re so honorable Yui-chan. I wish I could be strong like you.”

“You’re strong enough.”

It was then that the math teacher entered the classroom. The whole class groaned, figuratively. Even if it wasn’t out loud everyone felt the mood drop. But Yui felt… content now that Kokona was back. It was nice having a friend to talk to, but she couldn’t tell anyone that her sister was helping Amai’s murderer. It’d cause too much trouble.

The teacher droned on, writing practice problems on the board, but Yui paid attention to none of it.

\----

Midori’s leg was bouncing  _ furiously _ . Twice now Ronshaku-san told her to cut it out because it was pissing her off- although Midori just thought it was a symptom of withdrawal, or maybe a hangover (that would explain the shades this morning). But she couldn’t help it! She was just so… Excited! Finally after a whole five days of pressing and searching, the infamous Info-Chan had finally agreed to meet her.

She nearly squealed in excitement at the very  _ prospect _ of meeting her. And to think, Midori had  _ made _ Info-Chan do that.  _ Her _ . Gurin freaking Midori. Gyahh! She was just so cool!

Lunch that day was with Yamada-san in the cafeteria. Today she opted for some  _ yakisoba pan _ * to help provide her with enough energy to keep her going.

“So,” Yamada started, “I take it you found her?”

Midori nodded happily, swallowing a bite. “I… did some things and convinced her to let me meet with her.”

“Things?” Yamada raised an eyebrow and sipped from his fruit-flavored milk carton.

“Yes Yamada-san,  _ things _ . You probably don’t wanna know what they are, but needless to say it was for a good cause.”

“Okayyy,” he replied, skeptically but playfully. “And you can drop the  _ -san _ . We’re cool.”

She grinned. “Seriously? Aw heck yeah friendship!” Midori high-fived him. “Same to you then Yamada-kun!”

Midori, now feeling ravenous, gulfed down what was left of her  _ yakisoba pan _ and drank the rest of her lychee-flavored juice. Somewhere nearby, a certain dark-haired girl looked on at the two in disgust.

\----

_ To: Eugh _ _  
_ _ I hate them together. _

_ From: Eugh _

_ Give it time Aishi. Eventually this will all be over. _

_ From: Eugh _

_ That girl is on my list anyways. I’ll figure out what to do with her. _

_ To: Eugh _

_ Good. I hope we can get rid of her soon Info-Chan. _

_ From: Eugh _

_ Me too, Aishi. Me too. _

_ To: Eugh _

_ In the meantime I think I have someone else to take care of. _

_ From: Eugh _

_ Good luck then. Holler if you need anything. _

_ To: Eugh _

_ Will do. _

\----

The end of the day bell was such a relief to hear. Midori’s leg immediately stopped its incessant shaking. Ronshaku rolled her eyes and quickly strolled out of the classroom. Probably to smoke. Midori didn’t want to be mean, but that was just what Ronshaku did.

She was just about to run to the closet when her phone emitted a  _ ding! _ and vibrated. Midori pulled out her phone from her skirt pocket and turned it on. There was a new message.

_ From: Info-Chan _

_ Wait ten minutes and then come to the closet. _

Midori frowned.

_ To: Info-Chan _

_ Why should I listen to you? _

_ From: Info-Chan _

_ If you don’t I’ll lock the door on you and you won’t be able to get in. If you want to stop Odayaka’s killer so badly I’d suggest not pushing your luck, green bean. _

She gripped her phone and gritted her teeth in frustration. Fine, she’d play along. But sooner or later Midori would be in control again.

The girl patiently passed ten minutes sitting in the corner of the stair landing listening to her music. When she realized it was finally time, she bolted back into the hallway and down. 

Down, down, down the hallway. To the end. To the closet.

_ Knock. Knock. Knock. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *yakisoba pan is another Japanese bread that is sold at festivals and cafeterias that is filled with yakisoba noodles. It sort of looks like a hot dog, but with noodles.


	8. Nesting

Chapter 8: Nesting

The door creaked open. Before Midori had time to react, a hand stretched out and grabbed her, dragging her inside. Midori gasped in surprise and almost fell, stumbling through the closet. She felt the hand yank her into a turn and thought,  _ Closets don't turn? What is this place?  _

Light soon flooded into her vision. A bright lamp, and screens mounted on the wall. Six of them. Midori's eyes widened.

_ Info-Chan's lair! _

The taller girl finally looked down to who was holding her arm. Short, red hair, angry eyes, and glasses. Midori tilted her head in confusion.

“Rio-san? Wait, no. Uh...”

“No that's right,” Info-Chan replied. “You're probably just thinking of the wrong Rio.” She let go and took a couple steps backwards. “I'm Rio Eri.”

It hit her. “Oh shit, that girl I kidnapped was your sister.”

“Yep,” Rio said, arms crossed. “So, take a seat on the floor and explain yourself and what you did before I decide you're not worth my time.”

Midori sat on the floor cross-legged and Rio did the same, staring at her intently. Midori gulped. Explaining why you kidnapped a friend was one story, but kidnapping a family member? A  _ twin _ ? Yikes. 

“Ah, well,” Midori tried to speak as her mouth went dry. “I…” Rio raised an eyebrow. She took a deep breath. “I want to help catch Odayaka’s killer and I  _ know _ you have information on this. I feel it in my gut!”

Rio stood. “You’re not making any sense. I’m giving you 10 more seconds and then you’re out green bean.”

She panicked. “Freaking- Okay, okay fine! I need to catch Odayaka’s killer to do her justice and I know we can’t solve her murderer but they are going to strike again, Info-Chan, Rio Yui, whoever you are, I know you have the resources, just  _ please _ !”

Quite literally groveling at Info-Chan’s feet, Midori pleaded with her. It felt like forever and a half before Rio finally gave a response.

The red haired girl’s face broke out into a grin. “It’d be a pleasure to work with you Gurin-san.”

\----

The next day Gurin wandered into the closet on her own and nearly scared Eri half to death. After struggling to not strangle the girl, they established ground rules. Gurin strongly objected to nearly all of them. Then Eri threatened to kick her out again, which shut her up. So the ground rules were as follows:

 

  1. No loud noises in the actual closet space (because it isn’t sound proofed)
  2. No mess
  3. If there is mess, clean it. It’s not my responsibility
  4. Notify me every time you enter or are about to enter the room
  5. Don’t leave your shit in here



 

When Eri slipped into the secret room at lunch, she found a paper with more rules and a crudely drawn doodle of Gurin herself sticking her tongue out. She immediately shredded it with her bare hands and left the room. This escalated into a petty war between them that consisted of immature notes and dumb nicknames. Thus, Eri permanently changed Gurin’s contact name to ‘green bean’ and in turn Gurin changed Eri’s name to ‘Dumb-Chan’.

It all ended when Gurin announced that she was going to ‘spruce up the room’. Eri thought,  _ No way in hell _ , but with carefully placed laxatives in her coffee she was made to stay home. She was furious when she got back.

Grumbling to herself, she stomped up the steps and down the hall. Eri took hold of the knob and twisted. Nothing. She turned it in one direction as hard as she could, but to no avail. 

“Having trouble, Dumb-Chan?” 

Eri whipped around. There Gurin was, standing as smug as a cat.“What the  _ fuck _ did you do to my room you son of a bitch?” she growled, pulling the taller girl down by her shirt tie. 

“That,” Gurin said, nodding her head to the door, “is not your room anymore.”

Her eyes widened and her grip loosened. “ _ What _ ?”

Gurin backed away a couple steps, still smiling. “While you were gone I moved all your stuff to an empty clubroom. I brought some things from my house to furnish it a little.” She snickered a bit as she saw Eri’s mouth open to yell at her. “Don’t worry your silly little head, I moved everything while no one was looking. And the stuff from my house was brought there in the morning. We’re all good.”

And at that, Gurin took her wrist and led her down to the north wing of the floor. Eri didn’t know what to do, her thoughts racing a mile a minute and still fuming. She was so busy being angry that she didn’t even notice when Gurin led her through the sliding doors of the new room. 

“Uh, hello? Anyone in there?” Gurin called to her.

Eri’s head snapped up. “Yeah- Huh- What?” 

Gurin snickered, “Look around dummy,” and wandered into a corner. 

The room’s shades were drawn, but the celing lights were on. Her desk and chair and monitors were all there, along with two beanbag chairs.  _ Two _ . There was a bulletin board on one side, a big one, and across the room from that, a folding table. 

All Eri could say was “huh.”

“‘Huh’ is right, Rio-san! We’ve got everything we need for sleuthing,” Gurin piped up. “We’ll especially be using this box,” she raised a filing box up, “quite a bit, I hope.”

She set in on the table and Eri walked toward it. Gurin proudly displayed its contents to her: a couple plastic shivs, a couple notebooks, a bag with pencils, a magnifying glass, and tweezers, binoculars (only one pair), and a couple spare phone chargers. They were all neatly organized into the box and it left Eri a little impressed, if anything. She was about to compliment Gurin’s work when her phone buzzed.

_ From: Yui-nee _

_ ERI COME TO THR FRONT OF HE SCHOOL _

 

_ From: Yui-nee _

_ KOKNA S DEAD* _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I forgot to mention, any spelling errors that are made while characters are texting are intentional


	9. Sleuths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets a bit... gory. Look out for that. I'll put in warnings for when the gory stuff comes up.

Chapter 9: Sleuths 

Eri muttered a ‘fuck’ and ran her free hand through her hair. Aishi had killed someone a-fucking-gain. And with no actual warning. Of all the fucking shit she she could’ve done, she had to do this.

“Rio-san? Rio, what is it?” Gurin worriedly asked.

It took a second for her to finally snap out of it and respond. “Haruka Kokona… she's dead.”

Gurin's eyes widened. It was all a blur as she was pulled by the green haired girl down the stairs and outside to the front. 

SKIP AHEAD IF SQUEAMISH

 

A crowd had already gathered around the body. Miyu Saki, who had just returned to school that day, was sobbing. Yui was holding her, trying to console her, but it seemed she was extremely shaken up too. Eri felt herself be pulled into the crowd and for some reason the people parted to let them through. And there she was.

Blood and gory bits were splattered across the grass and pathway into the school. Kokona was belly down, her neck twisted at an odd angle so her face looked sideways, seemingly at everyone else. Blood was pooling at Eri’s feet. 

She took one look at the body and ran away to throw up. This was  _ far _ too jarring for someone who sold panty shots and petty drugs. Even if she didn't mind the manipulating and terrorizing, this was on a completely different level. She didn’t want to  _ see _ the bodies.

_ Disgusting _ , she thought.  _ Fucking Aishi, why was she always so public? No one needed to see that. _

SQUEAMISH STUFF ENDS HERE

 

When Eri turned around Gurin was waiting for her. “How are you feeling?”she asked, traces of concern in her voice.

“I- Fuck,” Eri sighed. “I need to go, sorry Gurin-senpai, fuck,  _ Christ _ .”

Eri ran off back inside.

\---

Now that the initial shock and disgust was dying down, Eri was going to give Aishi a fucking piece of her mind. Two kills would  _ definitely _ bring in law enforcement, did she be  _ any _ idea-

She groaned and hit her head against the wall. Whatever deities were up there were cursing her with bad luck.  Guess this is what she got for being… the way she was. Whatever that may be. Black mailer? Pervert? Drug dealer? Criminal. Sort of.

She caught Aishi going down the stairs, looking completely unaffected by what had just transpired.

“Aishi-san.”

She paused. “Do I know you?” she said, voice cold. Her hands were fists, Eri saw now, shaking, clenching and unclenching. Aishi was tense, probably running on adrenaline she couldn’t work off. Eri could see her breathing was unsteady. 

And this is where she realized she couldn't say anything to her. Eri had to keep up her anonymity or she'd be turned in to the police for sure. The words ‘accessory to murder’ echoed in her head again. Fuck _. _ She took a breath and spoke as Aishi neared her.

“You should go out to the front of the school, Something’s happened to Haruka-san.”

“I see…” Aishi said, trailing off and narrowing her eyes at her Eri.

They stood their in silence for a couple seconds. Aishi’s eyes were part cold and dead and part fiery and violent. Eri started to get a bit nervous until Aishi started on her way back down. Chills ran down Eri’s spine. 

_ Creepy _ .

The redhead sat in the corner of the stair landing. How was she going to fix this? Aishi was on the loose, about to do God knows what. Would she kill again? Eri thought it was likely, but didn't want to believe herself. She seriously shouldn't've gotten involved with this, she was losing control. Regret travelled through her body like a cold, but not for long.

Her head snapped up when she heard rushed footsteps. There was Gurin, striding up the steps. She looked… confident. Maybe Eri was just biased, because older people tended to look a lot more together to her, but something about how Gurin's hair flowed behind her and how she held her head high despite what just happened looked, well, attractive. It made Eri feel a bit more secure (though she would never say so, and yes, dead bodies did freak her out to that extent). When Gurin finally spotted her, she made a beeline towards her.

Gurin immediately knelt down and took her in her arms. Eri inhaled sharply but let her get close. “Hey kid,” she said as she was rubbing slow circles into her back. “You okay?”

She let out a shaky breath and internally groaned. Eri had to convince Gurin that she was upset over Kokona,  _ really _ Kokona, and not just freaking out about her entire life. “I'm not a kid,” she muttered, “And I'm fine green bean, it's… it's fine.”

The older girl stood up and offered Eri her hand. “Come on Rio. Let's solve this together.”

\----

_ To: Aishi _

_ Are you fucking kidding me? _

_ From: Aishi _

_ What do you mean? _

_ To: Aishi _

_ I mean killing Haruka Kokona like that. Do you realize what you’ve done? They’re going to close down the school again. _

_ From: Aishi _

_ So? _

_ To: Aishi _

_ So do you want the police butting into our business? If you don’t run things by me all of this goes down. Now be good and lay low for a while.  _

_ From: Aishi _

_ Fine. _

\----

“Okay, let’s take hold of the situation by using it to our advantage.”

Midori-senpai, as she had now come to call her (because apparently that was a personal enough situation for them to be considered ‘close’), was furiously scribbling things in one of the new notebooks and ripping pages out. Eri watched her, amusedly and still in a bit of shock. They had opted to skip class to hang around in the new room. Midori had evidently wanted to investigate more into this, but if Eri was going to skip class she’d change into her outside clothes that she snuck in her bag and go eat lunch in a park.

“Senpai, I really don’t think-”

“Listen Eri-chan,” Midori started. “We are going to get past this. To get past this, we need to solve it. So, here’s what we have so far.” She walked to the bulletin board  and pinned up some of the ripped pieces of paper. “The killer has taken Odayaka Amai,” she said, motioning at two papers, written on which were ‘killer’ and ‘Odayaka (first victim)’. Eri thought it funny that she thought Odayaka was Aishi’s first victim. Najimi could certainly attest that she wasn’t. Midori tacked up another paper that said ‘Haruka Kokona ‘assumed suicide, second victim?’. “The killer probably took Haruka’s life too. We need to find connections between them.”

“There are no connections senpai,” Eri sighed, trying to avoid actually being apart of the investigation. “They were friends and that’s all. No other common denominator.”

Midori’s face twisted in aggravation. “But- but there’s got to be  _ something _ . Come on, Eri, think!”

“They were part of the cooking club, they were friends, they were both…” Eri bit her lip in thought of what else she could say. “Both were fairly popular?  I dunno.”

“You know, for being named Info-Chan you sure don’t know much.”

“I’m holding back a lot of irrelevant information, senpai,” she retorted. “Believe me, if there were connections I would’ve noticed.”

Midori rolled her eyes. “Stop acting so high and mighty Eri. You’re human too.”

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a much  _ better _ human than most people in this school.”

“You dispense drugs and hack into school records!” Midori exclaimed. “Where on Earth does that make you a better person?”

Eri glared at her. “ _ Here _ , if you haven’t noticed. I’m smart and making money and haven’t been caught by the feds yet. Hell, you  _ broke into the school _ to find me.” She walked up to Midori and stood toe-to-toe with the taller girl. “I think that makes us the same, senpai,” she said in a low voice, arms crossed.

“I- I, you- Ugh!” Midori stuttered. “You’re such a- a freaking- Ugh!” She turned on her heel and towards the door. Before she left, she turned to look over her shoulder. “You are an insensitive, uncaring apathetic piece of crap!”

The redhead stood there in shock as Midori slammed the door closed. Well, she didn’t particularly care that she was insensitive, uncaring, apathetic piece of crap. That’s what made her good at her job. But being shouted that by Midori made something in her heart twinge. Obviously she wouldn’t change herself, but… It hurt. Just a little.

No, no it hurt a lot.

Eri sucked in a deep breath. She packed up her bag and headed out to the bathhouse. Time to change into her outside clothes.

\----

_ From: Dumb-Chan _

_ Hey. _

_ From: Dumb-Chan _

_ Listen, I’m sorry. For being an insensitive piece of shit. I was. _

_ From: Dumb-Chan _

_ Out of line. And I don’t want things to stay bitter between us. I want to catch this killer as much as you do. _

_ From: Dumb-Chan _

_ So I’ll change. Are we cool? _

_ To: Dumb-Chan _

_ Of course we are stupid. See you whenever school opens back up! _

 


	10. Development

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit of a filler chapter, so nothign Super exciting happens. the next chapter is going to be a little bit of a filler too, but we might see some interesting things happen with our favorite senpai

Chapter 10: Development 

School was out, once again, due to Kokona’s death. The building was swarmed with construction workers and technicians, which meant Eri couldn't sneak in to the school for her computer. All she had now was her laptop at home and her phone. Thankfully she'd saved anything done on her school computer to a flash drive, but she still missed her multiple screens.

 

To make up for the lost days, Midori invited Eri out to lunch to talk.

 

Now, Eri didn’t have friends. I mean, she had people she was friend _ ly _ with but no one she hung out with, unlike Yui. Being sort of a really weird computer nerd left her social skills underdeveloped. So Eri didn’t go out much and therefore didn’t have a ton of clothes to choose from. 

 

Desperate for help, she called in the only person who she thought could help her.

 

“Yui can I borrow some of your clothes?”

 

Eri stepped in the other’s bedroom. It was drastically different from hers; instead of various shelves and scattered wires and computer materials, Yui had the makings of your (sort of) average teen girl. Rock band posters littered the walls, as well as printed out images. Empty water bottles were stacked under the window sill and her homework was scattered all over her bed. 

 

Yui raised an eyebrow. “Why? Are you going out?” She nodded. “With who?” she asked, but then gasped. “Is it that greenhaired girl? You  _ are _ crushing on her!”

 

“Wai- nononono, Yui, come on,” Eri said and sighed. “I’m not crushing on her, it’s complicated, okay?” 

 

She nodded but gave Eri a look that meant she was still skeptical. She stood and went to rifle through her closet and not a minute later Yui pulled out some jeans that seemed to end above the ankle and a hot pink-and-white baseball tee. The younger girl threw them at her and gave her a thumbs up and a wink, which Eri rejected with a middle finger. Then she left to go freshen up and dress.

 

\----

 

_ From:  Green Bean _

_ i’ll be waiting for you inside the cafe! _

 

_ To: Green Bean _

_ It’s the one on Yakamatsu street right? _ __   
  


_ From: Green Bean _

_ mhm! _

 

_ To: Green Bean _

_ Okay. See you there. _

 

\----

 

Midori frowned at her phone. Eri always seemed apathetic or irritated these days. I mean, it's not like she wasn't before, but Midori didn't like that she was always so distant. It was sort of irritating to work with someone so hard-headed and closed off. Eri neglected to say anything more than she seemed to need to and then some. Of course, Midori should've expected this. Eri was bound to be secretive, even if they were on a first name-basis now. 

 

She guessed it was to be expected. No matter how close she thought she was to her, she’d never know what was going on in that little redhead’s… well, head. And quite literally little too, Eri stood at around what Midori thought to be 5’4”, while she herself was a good 5’ 10” or 11”. It was sort of cute seeing such a short person purse her lips and put her hands on her hips. Midori couldn’t take her seriously sometimes.

 

“Hey.”

 

Midori’s head snapped up. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Hey Eri!”

 

She took the seat across from Midori (not like there were any others) and picked up the menu. “So,” she said.

 

“So?”

 

Eri peered up at her from behind the menu. “Why the public place?” she asked. “Why not your house or my house or generally somewhere more secluded. You don’t want to talk plan with me, do you?” she questioned, punctuating her sentence with a flip of the menu page.

 

The older girl smiled tiredly and sighed. “You caught me Eri-chan,” she said. “I brought you here because I thought you needed to relax. After yesterday I think we need to chill. What better way than some tea and cake?”

 

Midori heard her scoff from behind the menu and then “You paying, senpai?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“Fine by me.”

 

They ordered their food (carrot cake and green tea for Midori and  _ castella _ and a sweetened iced tea for Eri) and made idle chat while they ate (grades, tests, daily life with added bonus of trauma). Midori did most of the talking even though Eri learned nothing from what she said. It seemed to her she was just spitting out hot air. But… Eri didn’t exactly mind. It was somewhat refreshing to see someone like Midori talking as if  nothing was wrong. It really boosted the atmosphere. Eri even got into it a little, chuckling at dumb jokes and nodding her head along to her voice. 

 

Her voice… Eri thought it was squeaky at first, a little too high-pitched for her tastes, but now.  _ Now _ . Maybe she was just used to it she rationalized. Yeah, that was it. There was also the present issue of her hair that Eri simultaneously envied and thought was cute on her. It was pretty and it looked soft and Eri wanted to touch it. And the way it shone in the sun was at the very least visually pleasing. 

 

This wasn't at all unpleasant like she thought it would be.

 

Midori chattered on and on about some class and some student and some incident, which Eri didn't much care for. But she couldn't say she wasn't listening, no, Midori had her on some kind of hook. So, she kept making her little comments, responding to questions, nodding her head to her voice...

 

And just when she had realized Midori's hand had near grasped her own,  _ he _ showed up.

 

“Midori-chan?”

 

Eri knew that voice all too well. It was the voice of the boy she had to keep tabs on for what was now four weeks.

 

“Ah, Taro-kun! Hello hello, what brings you here?” Midori greeted him.

 

He walked closer and Eri saw a younger girl at his heels. His sister, a first year, but she hadn’t been in school at all since Odayaka-senpai had died.

 

“Me and Hanako here were just grabbing a bite to eat,” he explained. “We sort of needed this place after all that’s happened. Isn’t that right, Hana-chan?”

 

The younger girl nodded, pigtails bouncing. “Very right onii-chan!” she replied and clung to his arm.

 

“So, how are you?” he asked her. “Who's this kid?”

 

Midori smiled sweetly at him and his sister. “This is just a second year I'm friends with, no biggie. We're here for the same reason actually.”

 

Eri sat there in mild shock and irritation. No biggie?  _ No biggie? _ She was ‘just a second year’ to her? No, Eri decided. She had worked too long and too hard to be more than 'just a second year’. Sure, Midori couldn't blow cover, but  _ come on _ . She could've at least introduced her. What did Midori think of her now? Was it just because she played so hard at vigilante she had tamed the criminal force that was Info-Chan, her entire legacy? No way in hell. 'Just a second year’ her ass, Midori could  _ not _ just say that when she had expended so much effort on trying to find Eri. She wanted a proper introduction, an actual meaning to her place here in this cafe with Midori and Aishi’s stupid object of affection.

 

Watching the two of them inverse and completely ignore Eri irritated her more. Yamada Taro was  _ intruding _ , couldn't he see that? Couldn't he see.that he wasn't needed here? Anger bubbled up in her chest. There was no way she could just be ignored like that. She needed to get the Yamadas away from her.

 

Eri stared pointedly at the line at the cashier and Hanako saw this. She turned her head and her eyebrows rose. “Ah, onii-chan onii-chan, the line is getting shorter!” She started pulling on his arm, dragging him off. “Let’s gooo!”

 

He waved good-bye as he was pulled away, and Midori waved back. Eri still felt a bit bugged that Yamada-senpai had interrupted their meeting like that. Whatever, he’d be out of the way soon and Aishi and her could part ways. She wouldn’t need to do any running around anymore and she would have to deal with Midori less and less. 

 

_ No more irritating senpai to deal with _ , she thought.  _ I could have my time back to myself again.  _

 

Eri finished her  _ castella _ quickly after that. She had better things to do. It cames as a surprise to Midori when Eri slammed down some money to pay for her portion and left abruptly.

 

\----

 

“Your hair is unprofessional.”

 

“Well  _ you’re  _ hair is emo!”

 

Two women were climbing the hill to Akademi High School. The woman with the shorter hair turned to look at her partner. “At least  _ I _ didn’t bleach my hair,” she growled. “How many of these kids do you think are going to respect you when you look like a goddamned  _ gyaru _ **!” she spat, but she immediately regretted the words. The other woman grinned eerily at her. 

 

“ _Maa_ _maa_ Nemi-chan, chill a bit,” she said, holding a casual tone and stepping toe-to-toe with her partner. “You should really respect your elders more.” She looked down at Nemi, still grinning, but her tone and eyes now gone cold and frightening.

 

Nemi sucked in a breath and held her gaze with her partner. “Y- you’re right, Shii-senpai. I’m- I’m sorry.”

 

“Good girl,” Shii said, patting Nemi’s head. “Now, why don’t we explore the school?” The younger of the two nodded nervously and followed her up to the school gates. “We’re lucky the Saikou-san let us have access to this place. It’s good to know your surroundings beforehand.” Shii pulled the keys from her pocket and began to unlock the gate.

 

“Why were we assigned to a school again?” Nemi asked, trying but failing to hide her bitterness.

 

Shii turned around. “Sisu Nemi***. You have been  _ very _ grouchy today, haven’t you?” She left the keys in the lock. “Have you never learned  _ manners _ ? To not question a  _ direct order _ from your superiors?” Shii ‘tsk’ed and stepped as close as she was before. “Does someone need to teach you a lesson Nemi-chan?”

 

Nemi broke out into a cold sweat. “N- no senpai. I swear, I’ll- I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

 

This didn’t seem to deter Shii from her current course of action, which was placing her face uncomfortably close to Nemi’s. When Nemi could feel even the slightest breath from her elder on her nose, Shii drew back. “Good. Girl. Now,” she spun around, returning to the gate, “where were we?”

 

Shii unlocked the gate and pushed it wide open. Nemi stepped into the school grounds right behind her and pulled the gates back closed. When she turned around, however, Shii was gone. Nemi panicked for a second, but regained her composure.  _ Everything would be fine _ , Nemi reassured herself.  _ Shii-senpai wouldn’t do anything to the school _ . 

 

Nemi strolled through the school herself, taking note of where ever she saw cameras. She opened every door and spent a good three minutes in the courtyard. She even explored a couple of the clubrooms, which were  _ very _ nicely decorated. She wouldn’t expect anything less of a school owned by Saikou-san. When she finally got to the roof, Nemi saw her partner. Shii was just standing there. Nemi saw she seemed to be deep in thought, so she didn’t bother her. Then, she watched as the older woman ran at full speed to the other end of the roof. She rammed into the metal fence and bounced off of it. Nemi ran to her.

 

“Senpai! Senpai, what-  _ why _ \- senpai, you could’ve gotten hurt!” she spluttered. 

 

Shii shook her head. “There was a suicide here and this is a new fence. I just wanted to test it out so I knew it’d be strong enough. Besides,” she smiled, pulling off her glove to reveal the end of a long scar. “I’m Shii Tano***. I don’t get hurt.”

  
Nemi internally shook her head. There was no way she’d survive guarding this school with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Castella is this Portugese cake introduced to Japan in the 16th century. It's very popular there.  
> **Gyaru is 'girl' in katakana and is a word for the Japansese phenomenon of bleaching your hair, tanning your skin, and putting on a lot of exaggerated make-up. It's a lil racist. For examples just look at Musume Ronshaku.  
> ***Sisu Nemi, or Nemi Sisu, is indeed Nemisis-chan. Shii Tano, or Tano Shii, is indeed Fun Girl. ('Tanoshi' is 'fun' in Japanese but i added an extra 'i' to shi because 'shii' means 'death' and we all know how frightening Fun Girl is)


	11. Additions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its taking a Bit more time to finish this chapter's twin, soooo here ya go. you deserve it

Chapter 11: Additions

Murmurs filled the school. There were definitely more people returning the first time around than after Odayaka’s murder, but it wasn’t because of the nature of the new death. It was because Saiko Megami had finally been allowed to return to school.

 

After Odayaka was murdered, Saikou was temporarily pulled out of school due to her father’s paranoia. She attended student council meetings through video chat and emailed constantly with fellow council members and it was assumed she had some sort of tutor while she was gone.

 

Some rumor had it that she had been the masked killer, but when school officials caught wind of this they quickly issued an announcement that it Saikou was being kept away for safety reasons. The rumors died down, but they didn’t stop. So, naturally, when people saw her being escorted by two women in black, they picked up their whispering. And it wasn’t just Saikou who was back.

 

Sometime that morning a girl spotted Shidesu Osoro strolling around the back of the school. Sunobu Kizana was also back, but no one saw her after entering school. A couple members of the Gardening Club were back, as well as someone who wasn’t Shan Miyuji from the Light Music Club. It was overall a bigger turnout than most people expected. Or, bigger than Eri expected.

 

She sat in the classroom, tapping her foot. The teacher kept looking at the clock on the wall and on her phone. Eri wondered if there was an assembly coming up or something. She wouldn’t doubt it;  the cameras that morning had picked up wisps of discussion from the Saikou and the headmaster. She thought maybe she heard a couple other people but she was too tired to pick them out. She’d gotten no sleep due to the constant buzzing of her phone that night. Midori just  _ did not _ know when to let up did she? 

 

Eri guessed that maybe her storming out of the cafe wasn’t the best of things, but she didn’t owe anything to Midori. Nothing at all. Fucking Midori. She clenched her fist around her pencil, consequently breaking it. The snap caught the attention of the girl next to her, Horuda Parasu*. Horuda gave her a strange look, turned back around, and tried to blow her bangs out of her face. 

 

_ Why not just cut them stupid? _ she thought.

 

As if on cue, the teacher’s voice broke the silence in the classroom.

 

“Okay class, we have to head down to the gym for an assembly. Stay orderly in the halls.”

 

Of course, no one did. No single files, no quiet kids, just stomping and running and a sudden uproar in small talk. Everyone sort of figured Saikou would be running, or at least speaking at,  the assembly, and they were all eager to see her again. After all, what is a school without its idol?

 

\----

 

Osoro thought assemblies were stupid. Why on Earth would she attend a school-wide meeting to be talked to about things she already knew? She may not look it, but she did listen to the gossip in school. Honestly it was rather hard not to, what with Yukana’s constant babbling.

 

But still, even she was interested in what Saikou had to say. Osoro had heard Saikou herself would be leading the assembly.

 

Like usual, her group and her had skipped class in favor of smoking and chatting. It was like their version of sitting in a cafe and talking. Of course, Kino brought over sports drinks and Pocky sometimes and they usually bought bread from the nearby convenience stores. They lived on snacks, basically. But that didn’t deter their physical strength; the bats and kendo swords they carried were weight enough and the… assignments Osoro got them were enough work. 

 

When she saw students filing noisily into the gym, she shrugged and thought ‘ _ What the hell? _ ’ and stood up. Without saying a word, the rest of group followed. 

 

Soon they melded into the crowd, but once people realized they were there they stayed at least a meter and a half away from them. They were being visibly avoided, not that any of them minded. However, this  _ did _ draw attention to one of the women in black. It was the one with the shorter hair. Osoro internally cursed. If she was right, this woman would cause her girls all sorts of trouble.

 

“Excuse me,” she said, her voice deep and calm. “Would this happen to be the girl of gangs that have been terrorizing student as of late?”

 

Tsurui scowled. “What's it to you?”

 

“I need to speak to…” she paused and looked at the paper in her hand. “Shidesu Osoro. I need to speak to a Shidesu Osoro.”

 

Osoro stepped forward. “What do you want with me?”

 

“We need to ask you some questions. Please step out of the crowd.”

 

“The fuck? No way! Leave us alone.” 

 

“We're just interviewing people on the case of the Odayaka murder. We just need to see if there are any witnesses.”

 

Osoro raised an eyebrow. The woman seemed to cut herself off. She knew what the rest of the sentence was.  _ And suspects. _ But whatever. It's not like she did anything. They'd release her soon enough once they realized she was innocent.

 

“Alright,” she said. “Fine.” She turned back around. “I'll be back in a little bit.”

 

“But senpai-!” Kinzoku protested.

 

“I said it’ll be  _ fine _ ,” she growled. “Until then, stick with Katai.”

 

And with that, Osoro turned from the group and walked away with the woman in black.

 

The walk back into the school was short, but Osoro could think of a million other things she could be doing now instead of that. It was tedious is what it was and she hated tedious things. Which is why she hated doing those loading jobs Info-Chan gave her. But of course, how else would she get her and her girlfriends’ records expunged? And community service was hard to come by. Curse this stupid, industrial town.

 

Osoro followed the woman in black all the way to the cafeteria. Sitting at the table was also another woman in black. This woman had her hair bleached and in pigtails. Strange for a bodyguard (if she even was one). If Osoro didn’t know any better, she’d think she was a friend of Ronshaku’s.

 

“Which one is she?” the blonde woman asked. 

 

The one next to her sighed. “Shidesu, the delinquent.”

 

“Alrighty then,” she said cheerily. “Sit yourself down Shidesu-chan and we'll be done in ten minutes.”

 

Osoro said nothing, eyeing the guard as she sat down.  The woman was unnaturally smiley and her pigtails seemed to give her a faux-schoolgirl look. It creeped Osoro out, to say in the least.

 

The first woman in black sat too. They stared at one another in silence for a few seconds before blond woman started to speak.

 

“So, my name is Shii Tano,” she said, and then gestured to her left. “This is Sisu Nemi. As you might've guessed, we've been hired to protect the school.”

 

“I thought you were just here for Saikou,” Osoro said, skeptical.

 

“Ah. Well,” she started, “we came with her, you know, just in case anything happened, but in general we will be patrolling the school and interviewing suspects and what not.”

 

“Hm.”

 

There was a lull in the conversation again. Osoro felt unnerved by the stoic woman staring her down and the overly-happy one seeming to bore into her soul. Wherever these women were trained, it was certainly a good place. Maybe she should look into being like them.

 

Sisu sighed. “Okay, I guess we’ll just get right to the questions. Where were you the day of the the Odayaka murder?”

 

The answer to that question was getting drunk and maybe kissing a bit with Katai but she couldn’t tell them that. So, as a knee-jerk reaction she said, “Fuck off.”

 

Sisu’s expression twisted a bit. “Shidesu. Just please answer the question and you’ll be on your way, alright?”

 

“Fuck. _ Off _ .”

 

“Jesus Christ,” Sisu grumbled frustratedly. “Listen, we don’t have all day to do this so why don’t you just-”

 

“ _ No. _ ”

 

“Shidesu-”

 

Shii abruptly stood up. “Listen kiddo, let me get one thing straight.” She leaned in and Osoro saw Sisu get up and move to the side, eyebrows furrowed. “You’re going to answer every question we throw at you whether you like it or not. Now suck it up because believe me,” she whispered, pressing her forehead against Osoro’s, “between the two of us,  _ Sisu is the good cop. _ ” 

 

Osoro felt her palms get clammy. She she quickly and quietly inhaled and exhaled, slightly panicking. Once again, that creepy cat-like grin spread on Shii’s face. 

 

“Now,” she whispered, yanking forward Osoro’s school uniform tie, “are you ready to be a good girl?”

 

The delinquent nodded her head hesitantly.

 

“Good.” Her voice had become a cold whisper. “Now, where were you the day Odayaka got murdered?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Horuda Parasu, or Parasu Horuda, is Placeholder Leader in katakana noises (funny anectdote i got called a weeb bc i knew the three sets of japanese characters like??? sorry ur uneducated daniel step off ur white high horse)
> 
> im looking forward to this next chapter yall shits good


	12. Morale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes. did i say our favorite senpai? i meant eri's favorite senpai

Chapter 12: Morale 

Eri looked at the empty stage boredly. They’d been there for at _least_ five minutes without anything happening. Then again it wasn't like she was complaining; any break from class was a welcome one. And it sure would be hard facing students you essentially abandoned as people started to go missing and die. Saikou must be losing her mind.

 

The redhead imagined Saikou coming onto the stage, pretty silver hair flowing behind her, and then someone quiet- maybe Osu Pippi- suddenly rising up and throwing a tomato at her. And then another. Soon Pippi would be joined by several other students and then tomatoes were joined by notebooks, pencils, even a chair. Saikou would duck behind the pedestal, hilariously frightened, and would occasionally peek out, almost being beheaded by a math book. After a good seven minutes she would retreat behind the curtain, never to be seen again. And then maybe Eri would take charge. She’d be the new student body president and things would go _her_ way.

 

Eri snorted at the thought. Oh, if only.

 

“Whatcha laughing about, friend?”  
  
‘ _Shit._ ’

 

Eri made no attempts to move as Midori plopped herself beside her. “Sorry I’m late,” she explained, out of breath. “Sunobu-san wanted help with some of the techy stuff. It sorta helps I hang out with you, huh?”

 

She could detect her joking tone clearly enough, but Eri did not laugh. She let out a ‘hm’. Midori was silent for a few seconds and then spoke again, tone deflated.

 

“Why are you mad at me?”

 

Eri audibly scoffed. She sounded like a child, voice timid and quiet. “I’m not.”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

Another, much more animated, scoff. It sounded like an eight-year old was cursing at her. “You’re bullshit.”

 

“Just tell me what’s wrong!” Midori whispered.

 

“Nothing is wrong senpai! Alright?” Eri exclaimed, drawing stares. “Leave me the hell alone.”

 

“What _is_ it?” she asked insistently. “Is it me? Am I bothering you?”

 

“Well, you definitely are now, senpai.”

 

Midori huffed angrily. “Just tell me what’s bugging you! You’ve been ignoring me since the cafe!”

 

But Eri shifted back in her chair. All the lights dimmed except for the few on the stage. Saiko, in all her shining beauty, stepped out.

 

“Students of Akademi High!” she near shouted into the microphone. “It’s been a long time. Rest assured, I will _not_ be leaving this school again any time soon.” Cue cheering and a slight pause. “We are gathered here today to pay our respects to our lost friend, Haruka Kokona.” Cue projector showing a picture of her face on the curtains and people rolling out…

 

Oh God not again.

 

Eri turned her head down. There was no way she could stand looking at another dead body.

 

“Eri, look-”

 

“Shut. Up.”

 

“But-! Ugh, fine.”

 

She heard Saikou say a sort of prayer-speech combo for Kokona and then held a moment of silence for her. Eri thought she heard sniffles in the crowd, probably from Saki and the rest of their group. Eri couldn’t relate; she just couldn’t bear to watch an actual dead body in the vicinity. _Ugh_.

 

“Now,” Saikou’s voice boomed. “I would like to introduce someone else who would like to say a few words. Everyone welcome back the star of our school’s drama club, Sunobu Kizana!”

 

The room rumbled with cheers. The students had so missed their goddesses. It was like a freaking cult in here and Eri had felt distant with it, a trait she and Yui shared. School pride didn’t interest them at all.

 

Sunobu stepped out, hair worn down. There were curls towards the bottom of her hair and they were neatly placed over her shoulders and a rose clip held her bangs in place. More cheering. Sunobu was beautiful, sure. Eric couldn't deny that objectively she thought she was very very pretty. But Sunobu wasn't her type.

 

When Sunobu spoke, however, her voice… her voice entranced them all. She wove out promises of a better future in silk ribbons of word and Eri sort of forgot for a minute that she was sort of a super shitty person. Everyone forgot that when she talked.

 

Eri vaguely picked up words like 'nurse’ and 'staff additions’ and hen she stopped talking everyone realized there were new people on stage with her.

 

“Please welcome,” Sunobu said, “Rana Mida and Kina Muja!” Then she sat down with Saikou on some folding chairs off to the side.

 

The headmaster pulled the curtain back and out stepped two older women: a pink haired one in nurse garb and a brunette with her hair in a bun. Eri wondered who was who.

 

The pink haired one stepped up to the mic. “Hello,” she greeted, voice soft and gentle, “I'm Kina Muja and I will be your new nurse. I hope to be able to help you to my furthest ability in the time I am here.” She stepped aside and the brunette spoke.

 

She introduced herself the same way the new nurse had. Her voice was very… low and sultry? Eri couldn’t tell if she was imagining it or not, but it sounded like Rana-sensei was trying to seduce them. It made Eri immensely uncomfortable. She could feel Midori start to recoil too. As Rana talked, Eri noticed that a couple buttons of her blouse and blazer were undone. Was she really trying to seduce them? Ew.

 

She could see a couple boys leaning forward in their seats, squinting to see cleavage. Double ew. Eri briefly wondered if Yamada was looking too.

 

“Do you think Taro’s looking at her boobs too?” Midori asked.

 

“‘Too’?”

 

Midori giggled. “Yeah I’m sorta looking at them. Their very- fuck is that a beauty mark on her boob?”

 

“Oh my God.”

 

“Listen, don’t judge me, I like boobs.”

 

“I like them too, but they aren’t everything,” Eri mumbled back. “Her hair looks flat as hell. 0 out of 10, would not touch. Also she’s got to be like 40 years old.”

 

Midori nodded. “True, true.” She turned to her and smiled slyly. “So I take it you’re a hair girl?”

 

“Yep,” Eri confirmed.

 

“Okie dokes then. I’ll try not to wave this,” Midori said playfully, flipping her hair back, “in front of your face too much.”

 

With that, Eri caught a whiff of Midori’s shampoo. And fuck was it nice. She was sort of jealous, but also, like… Midori was just really pretty. As annoying as she was.

 

She watched as Midori straightened herself and cross her legs, grinning smugly. ‘ _Why smug?_ ’.

 

“You can stop staring now dork.”

 

Eri spluttered and felt her face warm. “I’m not staring! I’m- I’m just trying to comprehend how stupid that was.”

 

“Sureeee you were.” Midori flashed another grin. “So, are we cool now?” she asked, more gently.

 

“Fine senpai. You and your pretty hair win.”

 

Of course, even if Midori was pretty, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to stall the fuck out of this amateur investigation. There was still some things she needed to do, especially if Eri was right about this whole ‘new staff members’ thing.

 

\----

_To: Ugh_

_Those women are disgusting. Talk about predators._

 

_From: Ugh_

_I think I won’t mind seeing the pink-haired one’s head on a stake, if I’m honest._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Can I actually do that??_

 

_From: Ugh_

_No._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Damn it._

 

_From: Ugh_

_I think I can work something out, though. We can maim one of them._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Good. I don’t want senpai falling into their big-breasted clutches._

 

_From: Ugh_

_For once I agree with you on something._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eri: wow i wanna help aishi fuck up some people  
> midori: no  
> eri: okay sorry aishi im gay
> 
> (this isn't actually happening this way lol)


	13. Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow im sorry if this feels like a filler chapter i tried my best ;^;  
> school has been hectic lately bc of end of the year grading. i passed with flying b's!! now that its the wind down time i can def work on more chapters fr the fic, i have all the rest of them planned out!  
> also sorry if this is too long but i rly recently discovered that my problem w writing is that sometimes, im scared of actually writing!!! im scared of long dialogue and expostion and all the Meaty stuff of a story! i recently bought a book abt writing novels and honestly its the best thing thats ever happened to me! from here on out i'll try to bring the best quality chapters to you!!!

Chapter 13: Work

Midori was fortunately part of the first  class that Rana-sensei was subbing for. This meant good things for Eri, because now she had a proper resource for information.Unfortunately, as attractive as she was, it was uncomfortable to be around her.

 

The weather was turning warmer, sure, but Midori thought that wasn't any excuse for her blazer and shirt to be unbuttoned so far and for her to constantly press her boobs into quite literally _everyone's_ face. The girl made the mistake of asking for help on a math problem and when she saw the new teacher saunter over she wanted to cave in on herself.

 

As Rana-sensei leaned over (much too far over, she had whispered to Taro afterwards) her desk, she could _feel_ her boobs press against her chin. If Rana-sensei had noticed it, she said nothing. And speaking of things pressed against her, Rana’s hair- worn down and loose today- was spilling over her shoulder and onto Midori’s head. Her voice was low and she let out soft sighs and periodically bit her lip, guaranteed to send anyone who liked girls to boner city. But, as it turns out, Midori was stuck in her hometown of Awkwardville, and had no intention on getting on this woman's train out.

 

After she left, Midori realized she still had no idea what the math problem was about.

 

\----

 

“-it was so _weird_. Do you think I should tell the guidance counselor?”

 

Taro shrugged and munched on the shrimp tempura he had for lunch. “I mean, I guess you should but she's only been here for like. Two days.”

 

“Mmm. That's true,” Midori said and sighed. “Guidance might think I'm throwing a fit because of all the crud that's been going down.”

 

He nodded, taking another bite. “Oh!” he interjected, then swallowed what was in his mouth. “Ohmigosh, okay so, like you know how Shidesu came back?” Midori nodded. “Well I heard some of the second year girls talking about her right, and apparently one of Saikou’s bodyguards pulled her out for questioning earlier.”

 

Midori’s eyes widened. “What? No _way_. Do they think she's…?”

 

“Maybe. Maybe not. _I_ don't think she is, but I'd probably interview her if I were them. She's sort of suspicious.”

 

The green-haired girl snorted. “Sort of.” She took another bite of her _anpan_ and swallowed. It was then that she noticed the bandages on Taro’s hand. “Whoa. Dude. What happened to your hand?”

 

“Oh, this?” he asked, holding up his injured hand. “I cut my hand earlier this morning on a book page.”

 

“Ah, your greatest ally betrays you.”

 

Taro chuckled. “Yeah, super tragic. So, anyways, I naturally went to the nurse’s office, right? But…”

 

“Ooooh, I sense a story. Spill it Taro,” she said, and leaned in.

 

“You do. You do sense a story.” He smiled and then leaned in too, as if to tell her a secret. “So I walked in and the first thing the new nurse does is latch onto my arm and go,” he cleared his voice and said in a high-pitched voice, “‘Ohhh honey what on Earth happened to your arm?’”

 

Midori nearly fell over laughing. When she had calmed down a bit, she saw Taro fake pouting. “Dude, that impression was the. Worst. Thing. Ever. I’m dying, you made me die.”

 

Taro rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, that is _exactly_ what she sounds like. Go talk to her for yourself if you don’t believe me. But _anyways_ ,” he continued, “Kina-sensei latches onto my arm and it felt like she was trying to shove my arm into her chest. Then she dragged me over to the bed, sat me down, and then, hold onto your seat, _sat on my lap_.”

 

“No. Shitting. Way.”

 

“Yes shitting way. Very much shitting way. She sat on my lap and kept feeling up my hand and shifting her butt around. It was a very uncomfortable two minutes,” he said and shuddered. “It felt like an hour before she actually did any medical work. And I’m like, 90% sure she tapped my butt on the way out.”

 

Midori shook her head. “Alright that settles it Taro-kun. You’re not going anywhere near the nurse’s office anymore without a buddy. Why don’t you bring Hanako-chan along with you or something? Oh and speaking of,” she continued, “where is that kid?”

 

“She wandered off with a gardening club member,” he shrugged. “I trust them, so she should be alright. Right? Please tell me I’m not being a bad brother.”

 

“You are a perfectly good brother,” Midori confirmed. “Engeika-san is a very responsible girl.”

 

\----

 

_From: Ugh_

_Hey. You have a Gmail right?_

 

_To: Ugh_

_No I've been living under a rock my entire life_

 

_From: Ugh_

_Okay okay. No need to get hostile. I'm just asking._

 

_From: Ugh_

_Any chance you'd be willing to join a Google docx to better discuss some of our plans? I’ve been trying to juggle our stuff and this annoying pest and I can’t have her looking through my shit._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Okay I guess. Whatever gets the job done._

 

\----

 

After school, Midori and Eri met up in the clubroom.

 

“Soooo how was your day?” Midori asked, rearranging the bulletin board with pictures she had printed out. There was one of Kokona and from Amai, taken from their R.I.P. posts on FaceBook. Then there was one of a guy in a mask, who she scribbled ‘killer’ on in Sharpie.

 

“It was fine,” Eri responded mundanely.

 

She was busy typing away at her computer doing, oh God knows what. Midori never knew what was going on in that little red head of hers. She felt a little neglected, if she was honest. They were always so on and off with each other; it got a little tiring. It was like trying to keep a sliding door on a tilt open. Midori frowned as she tacked up Kokona’s picture.

 

“How was _your_ day, senpai?”

 

Midori almost jumped she was so surprised. Maybe Eri wasn’t as callous as she thought?

 

“Oh it was fine! I talked with Taro a lot at lunch. As it turns out both the new teacher _and_ nurse are acting weird.” Midori tacked up Amai’s picture. “You know it’s like they’re trying to seduce us? But, like, obviously that can’t be true ‘cause they’re like,  30 or something right?”

 

“Interesting…”

 

Midori turned just as she finished putting up the last picture. “What is-  Whoaaaaa what is that?” Midori asked as she walked over, almost afraid of the answer. She watched, confused and slightly horrified. What on Earth was she _doing_? Eri’s fingers flew from key to key as more lines of code appeared and then, almost like magic, Eri had accessed… something. A menu had appeared on the screen

 

Eri smirked. “ _This_ is the best and most secure databases of criminals here in Japan and the surrounding countries.” The redhead swiveled around in her chair. “I’m gonna use it to try and confirm some suspicions of ours. What’d you do with the board, senpai?”

 

“We can talk about that later,” she responded, waving her hand. “What _suspicions_?”

 

“C’mon, tell me you don’t think those bitches are pedophiles,” Eri said.

 

Midori’s eyes widened in shock. “Eri! Those are our teachers! Be respectful! Even if they’re a little weird.”

 

“Teach _er_ and slutty nurse,” Eri corrected. “And ‘a little weird’? They don’t act appropriate around students at _all_.”

 

“Ah, well…” Midori sighed. “Yeah, that’s true. So, what’re you gonna do with the databases?”

 

Eri grinned. “All these databases have a facial recognition system working in them. All I need to do is submit a picture into the system and see if they pick anything up.”

 

“Oh you got pictures?”

 

“Nope!”

 

“But… then how are you gonna submit the pictures?” Eri’s grin got scarily wider. “Oh. It’s gonna be my job isn’t it?”

 

“ _Exactly_.”

 

“Whyyyyyyyy?”

 

“Becauseeeeee,” Eri mimicked. “I can’t draw attention to myself. Now, I need you to talk to the Photography club. I know their leader has been on top of things regarding the killings around school. She’s a very… eccentric character to say in the least.” Eri turned back to her desk. “She’s a bit of a justice-obsessed girl. Like you. You’d get along well. Go… I don’t know, borrow a camera?”

 

“You’re so vague,” Midori said but patted Eri’s head affectionately. “I’ll go check them out. Don’t stay up too late, okay?”

 

Midori left, leaving Eri feeling a bit warm and tingly and wondering what exactly Midori deemed ‘late’.

 

\----

 

Midori knocked on the door nervously. She’d never met the leader of the Photography Club. Sure, she’d seen her around and stuff, but it’s not like they were in the same class. And by the way Eri described her, she seemed… sort of alright? Not completely weird but definitely a little bit weird. Midori wondered if she should be more on guard.

 

The door slid open quickly and presented a girl Midori’s height with fluffy magenta hair.  Midori stepped back in shock, eyes wide. This girl looked tired and a bit… well okay, a lot frazzled. She had a feeling that her hair was more of a mes than it usually was.

 

“Who are you?” she asked, suspicious.

 

“I’m, uh, Gurin Midori? I’m a third year.”

 

The girl infront of her shrugged. “Okay, you seem harmless.” She yanked Midori inside. The greenheaded girl yelped as the door slammed closed behind her.

 

The room was darkened. Midori could make out a table filled with photos soaking in some sort of solution and just above it, a line with pictures hanging on it to dry. In a corner of the room, a guy with floppy green hair was sending an email to someone. Others were checking on the photos in the solution. They all seemed extremely focused and serious.

 

“So,” the purple-haired girl started, sitting herself down, “I’m Shashin Nanoko and I run this here club. Now, why are you here?”

 

Midori paused herself, trying to find the right words. “Uh, I’m… justice-seeking. Just like you. And I need your camera and stuff to do some sleuthing work…”

 

Shashin raised an eyebrow. “What lead do you have?”

 

“Thhhose new teachers? Kina Muja and Rana Mida? They’ve been being really weird and suspicious.”

 

“Why would they kill two students? And why do you need our cameras?”

 

“It’s- It’s a long story okay!” Midori exclaimed, not really knowing what she was saying.. “I can’t tell you why but- but I promise you that if I get anything important I swear I will get it to you!”

 

There was a moment of silence. Everyone in the club was looking at them now. Shashin looked extremely skeptical and opened her mouth to say no but-

 

“Nanoko.”

 

The green-haired guy had stood up and walked towards them.

 

“She seems trustworthy. She can pose for a fellow member for a little bit,” he stated, not looking in Midori’s direction at all.

 

“But Renzu-!”

 

“Nanoka. Come on.” His voice got softer. “We need all the help we can get.”

 

There was more silence and it seemed that Midori was trapped in that moment forever. ‘Renzu’ and Nanoka seemed to have a whole conversation without speaking. When Shashin finally spoke, it felt like they had all been holding a breath and just released it.  

 

“Fine. We’ll give her a spare camera.” She turned to Midori now. “You mess up that camera and there will be a serious debt to pay,” she nearly growled. “And just so you know, this is a _serious_ operation. If you’re just using us for camera access, think again.” She paused herself long enough to tear a scrap of paper out of a notebook on the table and scribble something on it. “Here’s my number, Gurin. Just in case.”

 

Midori sighed, relieved, and took the paper. “Thank you! You won’t regret it!” she exclaimed. ‘Renzu’ handed her a camera with a strap on it to hang from her neck. She slid it on and thanked them again, and bolted out of the room. When she was halfway down she hallway, she realized she fucked up. Just a little. And that maybe she didn’t know as much as she thought she did.

 

 

\----

 

_From: Ugh_

_Here’s the link to the Google doc_ _x_

 

_From: Ugh_

_I hacked it so only we can access it._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Neat. There’s…. A lot on here._

 

_From: Ugh_

_What can I say? I’m a creative person._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Why’re the new staff members on the target list? I mean they’re… them, but…._

 

_From: Ugh_

_I have solid confirmation that one of them is trying to make moves on Yamada-senpai. We have solid cause to attack._

 

_To: Ugh_

_I’m._

 

_To: Ugh_

_Okay which one of these would be good to make sure these women are six feet under?_

_From: Ugh_

_That’s the spirit._

 

\----

 

“Eri.-nee”

 

The redhead jumped. She was currently on the her phone texting both Ayano and Midori while studying for the upcoming Japanese literature test.

 

‘ _Man, Risa-sensei really doesn’t know the definition of taking it easy does she?_ ’ she thought, as she scanned the pages.

 

“Hey Yui,” she responded distantly. “Didn’t see you there.”

 

The younger twin rolled her eyes and looked at the scene before her. Textbook in one hand and ever-buzzing phone in the other, Eri looked as tired as she did the night before entrance exams. She even had a cup of coffee on the table. She felt a little bad.

 

“What’re you doing, nee-chan?” Yui asked. “You should’ve been done by now. What’s with the phone?”

 

Eri swiveled her chair around and adjusted her glasses. “I’m busy with work. I’m managing two long term clients right now.”

 

Yui strolled into the room and shook her head, taking a seat on Eri’s bed. “Yeah, alright, ‘clients’. Is one of them Ayano-chan and the other that bastard green-head? Don’t act like I don’t know what you’re doing.”

 

Her sister nodded solemnly and scooched her chair over to the bed. “I’m trying to lead Midori-senpai on a wild goose chase but I can’t distract her long enough to keep her out of my hair. Or anyone else’s hair. I was actually worried the Photography Club would beat her up. Shashin-senpai is terrifying.”

 

“Why do you care so much?” Yui asked. “This is the most I’ve seen you concerned about anyone aside from… me, I guess.” She teasingly nudged her sister with her elbow. “Do I have to fight for your attention now?”

 

Eri chuckled. “Nah, nah, I just… I don’t know. You know in those movies where those two people fall in love even though it’s completely unreasonable?”

 

“God, yes.”

 

“I think it might be that.”

 

“Ohhh my gosh. And you said you weren’t crushing on her.”

 

Now it was Eri’s turn to eye roll. “Well not _then_. But sometimes she’s really… calming and refreshing to be around. And she’s really pretty. And she’s helpful I guess…”

 

“Awwww.”

 

“Don’t you ‘aww’ at me Rio Yui. It’s not like she’s that great. A lot of times she’s just too much. She’s just so... I don’t know. So bright and loud and I just can’t handle it. I’m not meant to hang around something so bright like her. And I do have other responsibilities. I help bring money into this house; I have to keep up with the student body’s demands of porn and cigs, too.”

 

“Well,” Yui said, “maybe you can’t hold her because you aren’t opening up.”

 

Eri raised an eyebrow . “Uh, whoa, Yui, too deep. It’s not even 2 A.M.,” she laughed. Eri scooted back over to her desk and took a sip of her coffee. “Oh gross I forgot I put Gatorade in there.” She pulled a face and started putting her things away. Her phone had finally stopped buzzing, it seemed.

 

“Okay, for the record it is 1:48 A.M.,” Yui giggled. “But _think_ about it nee-chan. You’ve only ever been personal with me and now this new girl wants in on your life and you clam up when she tries to pry you open? Of course you can’t handle her, you’ve been on lock mode since we’ve been born.”

 

“Alright, stop hanging out with the guidance counselor. I can’t have two people who are going to potentially psychoanalyze me.”

 

“It’s not ‘hanging out’, nee-chan, it’s called _detention_. Maybe you should join me sometime,” Yui joked. “Still though, it looks like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Take a break if you can, nee-chan.”

 

“You know I can’t do that, Yui. But…” she trailed off.

 

As Eri got back on the bed and sat herself next to Yui, she thought more of what Yui was really saying. Well, she wasn’t _wrong_ . She needed a break from juggling two missions. And with a job like hers who would want to have herself be an open book  to some girl that she’d only known for a few weeks? Okay, maybe she wanted to be open with Midori, but the very prospect of that was _terrifying_. Just thinking about it made her more tired. Midori was just so. Out there. Maybe Eri needed that though. Maybe.

 

“I’ll take your advice to heart and mind, then,” she finally said with a sigh, but Yui was already fast asleep.

 

Eri smiled and wrapped what she could of the blanket around them and did her best to go to sleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen,,,,,,,,, id love to have a good excuse for not putting furredo jonzu (spelling??) in this but the only reason is I Forgot He Existed lmao,,,,,,,,,,,
> 
> thanks for reading!!!!! the next chapter is already in the works!!


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